Advancing Mining’s Economic Potential

While northeastern Minnesota has made great strides in recent years to diversify its economy, these efforts have not produced or replaced the high-paying skilled and professional jobs offered by the mining industry.

Economic impact of non-ferrous mining
Development of non-ferrous minerals – copper, nickel and precious metals – offers a perishable opportunity for large-scale economic development and new job creation in northeastern Minnesota. Commercial development of these projects will revitalize the area and provide enduring employment for decades to come.

• PolyMet’s NorthMet Project and Franconia’s Birch Lake and Maturi projects will each require 400 to 800 workers during construction and will, in total, require about 800 full-time skilled and professional employees.
• The new employment and related “spin-off” jobs generated by these developments in supplier and support businesses will help stabilize declining communities and local school systems.
• Base and precious metal mines will produce significant new streams of tax revenues to support government and public services.

A new base and precious metals industry will provide for renewal and growth for northeastern Minnesota by:

• creating hundreds of construction jobs, followed by hundreds of full-time permanent direct and ancillary jobs, including career opportunities for geologists, engineers and other mining professionals;
• stabilizing communities and schools;
• paying substantial taxes to support schools and communities;
• paying, where applicable, royalties to the state and federal government, which in turn benefit schools, local communities and the University of Minnesota system.